The 2025 HSBC Spanish Film Festival will be bringing the fiesta to Byron Bay this June with a curated selection of 30 films from Spain and Latin America, showing at Palace Cinemas.
The party will start with opening night comedy Samana Sunrise (Amanece en Samaná), featuring an all-star cast including Luis Zahera, María Luisa Mayol, Luis Tosar and Bárbara Santa-Cruz. The story follows two Spanish couples celebrating their 20-year friendship with a trip to a beachside resort in the Dominican Republic, where a confession about the past leads to a reality shifting ‘sliding doors’ moment.
The centrepiece of the Festival is the highly acclaimed EL 47, which recently won five Goya Awards including the coveted Best Film. Inspired by a true story, from writer/director Marcel Barrena, this biographical drama starring Eduard Fernández follows a bus driver in an act of peaceful dissidence that transformed modern Barcelona during the city’s boom in the 1970s.
A 2025 special presentation is Undercover (La infiltrada), co-winner of Best Film at the 2025 Goya Awards. This gripping crime thriller set in the Basque Country is based on the real-life story of Aranzazu Berradre Marín, the pseudonym for the only police officer in Spanish history to infiltrate the terrorist organisation ETA.
From celebrated auteur Julio Medem comes Ocho (8), a romantic drama that spans almost a century of Spanish history. Over 90 years, Ocho encounters Mark Octavio and Adela’s tumultuous and passionate relationship, mirroring pivotal moments in the country’s history.
In this year’s new Spanish cinema selection is The Goldsmith’s Secret (El secreto del orfebre), an epic romance adapted from Elia Barceló’s critically-acclaimed novel. It stars Mario Casas as a goldsmith who revisits his Spanish hometown, reconnecting with a great love affair from 25 years prior.
The 2025 HSBC Spanish Film Festival is in Byron Bay from June 19 to July 9 at Palace Byron Bay. Tickets are now on sale. For updates and more information, visit www.spanishfilmfestival.com
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